Sports Redux: Cat Bash Fever

When the Celtics were really, really good, the Charlotte Bobcats were one team that inexplicably gave them fits and made them work the whole game. Now that the Celtics are shakier (if, in fact, they are), the Bobcats, who just beat Cleveland in a week in which they blew out other teams, play like they're all up on catnip. It's a weird game.

The C's wrecked Charlotte in their first meeting of the season, and last night's road game was pretty much the same thing. But this time, it wasn't the suffocating defense, but a balanced, pretty unstoppable offensive attack that had the Cats on the ropes. We'll start the tour with Ray Allen (27 pts, 5-of-6 three-pointers), Kevin Garnett (16/7/5), but let's not forget Kendrick Perkins, who was 9-of-10 from the floor en route to 21.

But to really get the flavor of this game, we're going to go to Charlotte coach Larry Brown, who had some gems in his postgame remarks. ""I'm happy for our fans," he said. "They got to go home and watch Carolina and Michigan State." Brown added, "You could have taken five people from the stands and they'd have run their stuff and I think it would have been just as competitive."

The Red Sox have a shortstop problem? Well, who better to play short than Dustin Pedroia? Dusty says, "I can do it. I really want to do it." He added, "Tell Derek [Jeter] to enjoy the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards while he can." Of course, even if this happens (and there's no guarantee it will), that only creates a second-baseman problem, but we're told that the free agent pickin's at 2B are a little better.

The Patriots are trying to move on and collect what's left of their self-respect after the Monday Night hammering by the Saints. "Once Wednesday comes, we’re focusing on the Dolphins and putting this one behind us. For right now, it hurts," summed up Randy Moss. "We’ve got to coach better, play better. We’ve got to be better at everything," said Coach Belichick. Bruce at Boston Sports Media Watch posts all the postgame links and comes to the conclusion that these Pats aren't anywhere near where they want to be.